ESSENTIAL NEW RELEASES ~ 4/1/26 to 15/1/26

 2025 was a vintage year for new underground metal albums plus some classic reissues and the ripples are still washing up against the dank charnel walls of the Anointing The Sick Metal Blog ramparts. But you daren't relax for a minute because 2026 has already exploded into life with tons of new releases already and plenty of incomings ready to detonate onto the scene. Death metal has dominated this first batch of newies, particularly the most brutal kind!

Here are some of the bangers that are making my ears ring and bleed!

~ Wallow In Sickness ~

Giant ~ Beneath The Mountains

https://loreofgiants.bandcamp.com/album/beneath-the-mountains

Carrion Vael ~ Slay Utterly

https://uniqueleaderrecords.bandcamp.com/album/slay-utterly

Quaoar - Five Friends Floating

https://quaoar.bandcamp.com/album/five-friends-floating-2

Hyperion ~ Cybergenesis

https://hyperionbandheavy.bandcamp.com/album/cybergenesis

Swarm ~ Air

https://swarmgaze.bandcamp.com/album/air

Bound To Prevail ~ Enthroned in Torment

https://lethalscissor.bandcamp.com/album/enthroned-in-torment

Deadwood ~ Rituals Of A Dying Light

https://innerstrengthrecords.bandcamp.com/album/deadwood-rituals-of-a-dying-light

Nighnacht ~ Limb Service

https://morbidandmiserable.bandcamp.com/album/limb-service

 

Halflighted ~ Terra Morta

https://halflighted.bandcamp.com/album/terra-morta

Stranguliatorius ~ Flies Don't Lie

https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/flies-dont-lie

Smoke Rites ~ Eager Eyes Of Talion

https://smokerites.bandcamp.com/album/eager-eyes-of-talion

Voidhammer - Noxious Emissions

https://voidhammerdeath.bandcamp.com/album/noxious-emissions

Ectovoid ~ In Unreality's Coffin

https://everlastingspew.bandcamp.com/album/in-unrealitys-coffin

Redivider - Sounds Of Malice

https://redividerdeathmetal.bandcamp.com/album/sounds-of-malice

Funeral Vomit ~ Upheaval Of Necromancy

https://funeralvomit.bandcamp.com/album/upheaval-of-necromancy

Anti-Sapien ~ At the Mercy of the Merciless

https://anti-sapien.bandcamp.com/album/at-the-mercy-of-the-merciless

ANOINTING THE SICK ~ Top 20 Releases in 2025

 

It's such a difficult task somehow choosing 20 exceptional albums from a vintage year of incredible extreme underground metal releases. I had a shortlist but the albums I chose could have filled a dozen 'Best of 2025' lists, so I had to be extra disciplined. Stoner in it's various forms dominated my most played but doom and sludge featured regularly also. The scene was saturated with some excellent new death metal albums and my podcast show has played a lot of tech death, however I've come up with three that, although not reinventing the wheel, once I'd finished playing their albums, I felt pretty satisfied with what the bands had acheived.

I'm happy with the top 20 I've ended up with and I hope there is something in here that helps you  discover a gem you may have missed.

CRIMSON STORM ~ Livin' on the Bad Side

https://crimsonstorm.bandcamp.com/album/livin-on-the-bad-side

SWEETBEAST ~ Illusions

https://sweetbeastrock.bandcamp.com/album/illusions

KLASTOS ~ Born to Ruin

https://klastosklastos.bandcamp.com/album/born-to-ruin

KIRITSIS ~ Kiritsis

https://kiritsis.bandcamp.com/album/kiritsis

BURDEN OF DESPAIR ~ Confutatis

https://burdenofdespair.bandcamp.com/album/confutatis

 Behölder ~  In The Temple Of The Tyrant

https://beholderdoom.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-temple-of-the-tyrant

BIRDWITCH ~ bless the spark that found its home

https://birdwitch.bandcamp.com/album/bless-the-spark-that-found-its-home

THE CHRIS ROLLING SQUAD ~ Damn You All To...Hell

https://chrisrolling.bandcamp.com/album/damn-you-all-to-hell

AFGHAN HAZE ~ Sermons of Filth and Disgust

https://afghanhaze.bandcamp.com/album/sermons-of-filth-and-disgust

HIBERNAUT ~ Obsidian Eye

https://hibernaut.bandcamp.com/album/obsidian-eye

Heidrún ~ Entropía

https://heidrunmx.bandcamp.com/album/entrop-a

BIRDS OF NAZCA ~ Pangaea

https://birdsofnazca.bandcamp.com/album/pangaea

BLACK CHARGER ~ Small Town

https://blackcharger.bandcamp.com/album/small-town

PALE HORSE RITUAL ~ Diabolic Formation

https://palehorseritual.bandcamp.com/album/diabolic-formation

DARAH ~ Holier Than Thou

https://underground-syndicate.bandcamp.com/album/darah-holier-than-thou

TRIA PRIMA ~ The Mortificatio

https://triaprimaua.bandcamp.com/album/the-mortificatio

THE BATELEURS - A Light In The Darkness

https://thebateleurs.bandcamp.com/album/a-light-in-the-darkness

TURTLE SKULL ~ Being Here

https://turtleskullmusic.bandcamp.com/album/being-here

CRYPTIC PROCESS ~ Gulps

https://crypticprocess.bandcamp.com/album/gulps-5

AZELL ~ Astralis

https://azellrr.bandcamp.com/album/astralis

You can download and check each band out here

ESSENTIAL NEW RELEASES ~ 20/12/25 to 3/1/26

It's been very quiet here at the Anointing The Sick Metal Blog Mausoleum but, even though there was relative calm in the extreme metal underground leading up to and beyond Xmas, half a dozen new releases captured my attention. 2026 promises a blistering start but in the meantime please give these bands a listen. They're worth it!

Wallow In Sickness

Shadows Taller Than Souls https://stts.bandcamp.com/album/ouroboros

Castigation https://maximamusicpro.bandcamp.com/album/castigation-messiah

Pythonic https://pythonic.bandcamp.com/album/decomposition

Easy Death https://easydeathband.bandcamp.com/album/easy-death

Taedifer https://archaic-sound.bandcamp.com/album/indivinus

Dead Sun https://roggajohansson.bandcamp.com/album/this-life-is-a-grave